Harness-pad.



D. H. CARRIGAN.

HARNESS PAD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1910.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912.

ooooooqo) 0 do 0 do o.

COLUMBIA PLANoanAPn CD.,\VASNINGTON. n. c.

2O pressure at that spot.

Ni SAB HARNESS-PAD.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL H. CARRIGAN, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of Portland, in the county of 5 Cumberland,State of Maine, have invented devices such as are used under harnesssaddles to relieve the pressure of the saddle on Al the backs of horses.

I-Ieretofore harness pads have been made of felt or other yieldingmaterial and they were secured to the saddle in such a way as to befixed in one position. It frequently happens that the horses backbecomes sore from the chafing of the saddle in some tender spot and itis desirable to relieve the If this is not done the sore grows rapidlyworse as the saddle continues to chafe.

The object of my invention is to construct a bearing device which iscapable of being so adjusted as to distribute the bearing so as to avoidsore and tender spots. This I accomplish by making up a bearing devicecomposed of separate individual pads joined together by a flexiblemember as a strap,

the pads being detaohably connected to the flexible member so that theymay be shifted about to avoid tender places.

I illustrate my invention by means of the accompanying drawing in whichFigure 1 is an elevation of a harness saddle showing my bearing devicein position, Fig. 2 is a plan of the bearing device in an extendedposition, and Fig. 3 is a section through one of the individual pads.

A represents a harness saddle such as is used upon work horses, a beingthe water hook.

My pad is designed as are other pads of this class to be interposedbetween the saddle and the horses back. It is composed of a series ofindividual pads as B, each being preferably oblong in shape with a stifiplate 6 on the upper face. The pad proper may be made up in any suitablemanner but as I prefer to make it, it is made of a layer of felt coveredwith cotton ticking. The ticking is hard and practically non-absorbentso that it can be kept clean by scraping, and the felt forms a cushionwhich gives softmess to the pad. The plate 6 may be of leather ornumerous thicknesses of duck or Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 11, 1910.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912. Serial No. 566,343.

it may be made up in any suitable manner.

()n the top of each of the individual pads B there is a pair offastening devices by which the whole series of pads is secured to one ormore flexible straps C. As shown, I make use of two straps C and makethe connection between the straps and the pad by means of ball andsocket fasteners, two of the fastener members being secured at each endof each pad and corresponding members being secured to the straps. Asshown, I secure the ball members 6 on the pad and the socket members I)to the strap.

The pads and the fasteners are so spaced that there will be more thanone position in which each pad may be fastened so that any sore ortender place on the back of the horse may be avoided.

Means are provided for securing the bearing device to the saddle and asshown, a loop cl is secured to the two straps C and passes over thewater hook. A strap 6 at each end of the device fastens around thesaddle and holds the ends in place.

The advantage of my pad is that the individual pads may be moved aboutto avoid sore and tender places on the horses back, they may be removedand cleaned and the whole construction is simple and may be cheaplymade.

An important feature of applicants pad device is the independentadjustment of the pads thereof while the device and saddle are inposition on the animal. Any pad can be removed and shifted up or downaccording to the location of the sore to be protected. It is notnecessary to remove the saddle and pad device from the animal, becausethe snap fasteners permit of the ready detachment of the pads from thebase member and an equal ready attachment of the pads thereto, therebeing no straps to unfasten or fasten. It will be observed that thefastening sockets on the base member are spaced apart in two rows with adistance between adjacent sockets less than the width of the individualpad members, and there are more socket fastening elements on the basemember than there are stud fastening elements on the pads, so that thepads can be adjusted to different positions. If a sore is ofconsiderable area, two adjacent pads can be moved apart, one upwardlyand the other downwardly and yet all the pads will be in use to give thesame area of bearing sur face. In sectional pad devices, as heretoforeproposed, the sections of the pad are Wholly removable in order to leavea gap,

vWhereas in the present device, the sections of the pad are merelyshiftable to diiferent positions to provide a gap large enough for soresof different sizes, and furthermore, in applicants device, the sectionsare shiftable a distance only a fraction of their Width so that small,as Well as Wide gaps, can be obtained at any desired point in the paddevice.

I claim The combination of a piece of harness, with a detachable paddevice therefor comprising a base member, a plurality of padsindividually mounted thereon and separately detachable and attachable soas to be shiftable While the harness piece and pad device are inposition on an animal, rows of fastening elements on the base member,the space between adjacent fastening elements in each row being lessthan the Width of the pads, and fastening element-s on the pads fordetachably engaging appropriate fastening elements on the base member,there being a greater number of fastening elements on the base memberthan on the pads.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of June,1910.

DANIEL H. GARRIGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

